The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) has begun the trial of a crucial issue for business law and judicial recovery in Brazil: the possibility of applying a discount on labor claims and creating subclasses within this category. The case under review involves the judicial recovery of the company Concreserv, which established a 90% discount on amounts exceeding 25 […]
CPDMA BLOG
Category: News
Date: 19 de October de 2022
Posted by: CPDMA Team
STJ decides that the use of a competitor's trademark as a keyword in advertisements characterizes a crime of unfair competition
Advertising through paid media is a primary source of customer prospecting in the digital market. It happens that some companies, when hiring advertising platforms, choose to use the brand of others as a keyword to better position their ad. The result of this is that the consumer, when searching for brand "A", already consolidated in a certain market niche, will have as the first result the ad made by brand "B", even before brand "A" itself.
As a result, in the recent judgment of Special Appeal 1.937.989/SP, the Superior Court of Justice unanimously decided that indexing a sponsored ad to a competitor's trademark characterizes, in and of itself, the crime of unfair competition provided for in clauses III and V of art. 195 of the Industrial Property Law. According to Justice Luis Felipe Salomão, unfair competition exists when the capture of clientele is done by trickery, such as the use of a third party's trademark as a keyword in sponsored links. This practice produces evident dilution of the trademark and, consequently, loss of prominence and damage to the company's advertising.
Notwithstanding the absence of express legal prohibition, the judgment of REsp 1.937.989/SP shows a tendency of the STJ in identifying the limitations of free enterprise within the digital world, repressing conducts that promote confusion or undue association to third parties' trademarks.
The trademark registration guarantees its holder the exclusive use throughout the national territory, being assured the right to care for its material integrity or reputation. Therefore, to prevent the trademark from being diluted in the economic market, it is important to check with search engines - especially Google - to see if undue indexing of your trademark by a competitor is occurring. If such an act is verified, it can be characterized as unfair competition, giving the owner of the injured trademark the possibility to act to stop the infringing conduct, as well as seek compensation for the resulting losses.
By Thana Roberta Camargo Mattiello
References:
Recent posts
Salary Transparency Report – Submission Deadline until February 28, 2025
Read more
Companies with 100 or more employees can now submit information for the Salary Transparency Report from February 3 to February 28, 2025, through the Emprega Brasil portal, in the employers' section. On the portal, companies must report whether they have a job and salary plan or a career plan, policies to encourage the hiring of women (such as Black women, women with disabilities, victims of violence, heads of households, and LGBTQIA+), actions to promote women to management and leadership positions, programs to support the sharing of family responsibilities, as well as the salary criteria for career progression.
Commercial Registries Now Require Publications of Corporate Acts: Understand the Changes
Read more
In recent months, several Commercial Registries in Brazil have begun requiring the publication of acts related to mergers, spin-offs, and incorporations of companies, as established in the Civil Code (Articles 1,122 and 1,152, §1) and the Corporate Law (Articles 227, §3, 228, §3, and 229, §4). Although these obligations were already stipulated by law, many […]
RS authorized to implement ICMS settlement and installment payment with reduction of interest and fines
Read more
The National Council of Fiscal Policy - CONFAZ, aiming to facilitate the regularization of taxpayers' tax debts, has authorized the implementation of a program for the settlement and installment payment of ICMS debts in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, whether or not they are registered as outstanding debt, assessed, or subject to legal proceedings. The program provides for a […]
Atenção às tentativas de golpes utilizando o nome Cesar Peres Dullac Müller Advogados
Read more
Reiteramos nosso compromisso contínuo em oferecer serviços jurídicos com excelência e segurança. Diante disso, alertamos sobre uma situação delicada que tem ocorrido no setor jurídico: recentemente, tomamos conhecimento de tentativas de golpes direcionadas a clientes de escritórios de advocacia. Gostaríamos de tranquilizá-los, assegurando que todas as suas informações processuais e pessoais permanecem integralmente protegidas. Esses […]
The STJ decides that stock options (option to purchase shares or quotas) cannot be seized.
Read more
On November 5th, the 3rd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice ruled, through the judgment of REsp 1841466[1], under the rapporteurship of Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cueva, on the impossibility of seizing stock options. The case focused on the possibility of a third party exercising the right to purchase shares in […]
English 
Português do Brasil 
Español